Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-05-12
The Maidem:s SOlace.
BRIEF CHATTER OF INTERESTING FACTS CONCERN.
ING SPRUCE GUN.

ING SPRUCE GUN.
From the New York Sun
BANGOR, Me-, April % The seasons logging op.
erations on the Penobscot are now over: the axe
swingers are out OF the woods and the bar-rooms
OF Bangor have reaped their usual harvest, while
the supply OF spruce gum Is literally replenished,
and every school girl in town can chew to her
hearts content.
A lump OF clear, genuine spruce gum fresh and
fragrant from It's native forest, Is not to be de-
spised as chewing substance. and If everybody
could get the real article instead OF cheap adul-
terated stun, the army OF chewers would be vastly
augmented The natural gum is said by physi-
clans to be beneficial to the teeth, and Il Is
tain!y a great improvement on tobacco. The
woodsmen bring out considerable quantities OF
gum, sometimes packed in pretty miniature bar
reS, which they white and carve from blocks OF
white pine or cedar during idle hours by the camp.
fire, as presents for their friends but there are
people who make business Of gathering gum,
and in certain sections OF the spruce country it
pays well.
Most OF the spruce gum handled by the dealers
comes from Canada and northern Maine, while
Vermont and New Hampshire contribute moder.
ate quantity to the total yield. The best gum
comes from no particular section, but always from
the biggest spruce trees, and 1t begins to run in
July or August, when In these high ATTITUDES, the
sun becomes so hot as to crack the bark. On the
limbs In the crotches and event In the trunk OF the
spruce, the molten gum forms during the heat OF
summer In all sorts of fantastic shapes, and when
cold weather sets in 1t becomes hard the first
year after Its run the gum Is white and pitchy,
then 1t begins TO turn amDer and red, and the Sec
Ond year II Is hit to pick" for the market although
IL is better If allowed to remain the trees until
the third YEAR. After the third season the gum
remains in the same state for several years, and
then begins to "turn DID,, as the pickers say, and
crulnbles up. little more age makes it dark col
Ored and bitter, and then its value Is gone.
Up In Canada much OF the gum is picked in the
autumn, beginning as early as october, but there,
as In Maine, the best time for the work Is during
the deep SHOWS of the winter, when snowShoes are
used, or In the early spring, when man can
travel along at lively rate on the heavy crust,
above the underbrush. The pickers are provided
with long poles, on the end OF which is fastened
sharp chisel and underneath that a cup TO receive
the gum as it is Clipped Oh. The cup holds from
pint to quart, and when full it is enptied into q
long bad which the packer carries sung his back
in the woods when far distant from a settlement
or logging camp, and stay from TWO Gays TO
week on TIP: When they have secured as much
as they can "tOte" they come Oat, and then the
women and children have The tedious job OF scrap
ing each and every lump free from bark and moss.
The clean, bright article offered for sale in the
shops looks very much different from the brown
nuggets Ia the picker'S bag, although occasionally
clear, shiny piece is found on the limbof large
tree.
1t is the cleaning OF the gum that makes first
class article expensive. An ordinary picker usu-
ally earns lair days wages, although in localities
that have not been explored he sometimes strikes
iC rich" Ihave known man to gather $50 worth
OF gum In one day.
There are two or three firms in Maine which buy
large quantities OF gum from iumbermen and
picSers for the purpose OF refining 1t, AZ they say
But as general rule, the rennins, consists OF
into big vat, bark, moss and all, and boil it TO
about the consistency OF mOlaSSeS, SWIMMING of
the impurities as they rise to the surface. Tuen,
II the purpose be to adulterate, some lard or
grease and u lot OF rOSin Is thrOwn In, with some
times little sugar The mixture Is stirred until
thick, and then poured out on q slab, where, while
1t is yet hot, It Is rolled out In a sheet about a
quarter Of an inch thick, and afterward cut with
steel die into pieces half an inch wide and three
quarters OF an inch long. These pieces are
wrapped In cosored tissue paper and packed In
wooden OOxeS-two hundred pieces TO box. This
Is the SOcailed 'patent" gum. Tons OF IL are sold
south and west OF us, but here the verge of the
pr1meval forest 1t Is q drug In the market